The 2019 Chardonnay Russian River Valley, matured 10 months in 30% new oak, has aromas of apples, lemon peel, yogurt, toast and baking spices. The medium-bodied palate is satiny with concentrated, savory fruits and rounded acidity, finishing with some texture that may help this pair with food.

The 2019 Pinot Noir Grand Reserve has a medium ruby color and savory aromas of black cherries, forest floor, potpourri and cardamom. The medium-bodied palate is energetic and fresh with intense, earth-laced fruits and a long, spicy finish.

The 2019 Jackson Estate Seco Highlands Chardonnay has exotic aromas of yellow peaches, musk and honeysuckle. The medium-bodied palate is rounded and mouth-coating, with intense, floral flavors and a long, concentrated finish.

The 2019 Jackson Estate Fulton Ranch Chardonnay has pretty scents of apples, roasted almonds, spring honey and citrus blossoms. The medium-bodied palate is silky and boasts a juxtaposition of concentrated, savory fruits and focused acidity, finishing with an appealing touch of texture.

The 2019 Jackson Estate Camelot Highlands Chardonnay has lush tones of baked apples, beeswax and hazelnuts with top notes of citrus blossom. The medium-bodied palate is ripe and honeyed with bright, balancing acidity and a long, savory finish.

The 2019 Chardonnay Stature offers a rich perfume of yellow peaches, musk, honeysuckle and herbal undertones. The palate is flavorful and fresh, with a touch of anchoring texture and a long, perfumed finish.

The 2019 Chardonnay Sable Mountain Vineyard features scents of baked apples, lemon, cream, cashews and jasmine. The medium-bodied palate is perfumed and fresh, with a long, mineral-driven finish.

The 2020 Chenin Blanc Jurassic Vineyard comes from vines planted in 1982 at an elevation of 1,000 feet. It was fermented in barrel, with full malolactic conversion, and matured 10 months in used French oak. It has dynamic aromas of preserved lemon, lime peel, steel wool and beeswax with exotic herbal undertones. The energetic, medium-bodied palate balances intense California fruit with earthy bass tones and shimmery mineral character, while a good balance of tangy acidity and phenolic texture drive the long finish. This has potential to unfurl in bottle over the next 5-7 years or more.

The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Pine Mountain comes from vines planted at an elevation of about 2,900 feet. It is blended with 5% Merlot and matured for 20 months in 40% new French oak. Deep ruby in color, it has broody aromas of blackcurrants, graphite, pipe tobacco, cedar and fried thyme. The medium to full-bodied palate is firm, fresh and savory, with integrated freshness and a spicy finish.

I tasted the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Vintner's Reserve as a finished barrel sample of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc, 4% Merlot, 3% Malbec and 3% Petit Verdot. Deep ruby-purple in color, the nose opens slowly to cassis, blueberry and violet, and the full-bodied palate is powerful and spicy, with a long, floral finish. 170,000 cases will be bottled after aging for 15 months in 7% new French oak and 7% new American oak.

The 2018 Pinot Noir Bloomfield Vineyard, matured 10 months in 38% new French oak, has a medium ruby-purple color and alluring scents of wild berries, woodsmoke, iodine, licorice and graphite. The palate is medium-bodied and savory with a firm, grainy frame and a fresh, uplifted finish.

The 2019 Chardonnay Saralee Vineyard was matured for 10 months in 42% new French oak. It is scented of baked apples and lemon peel, with touches of toast and almonds. The medium-bodied palate is ripe and spicy, with a creamy texture, bright freshness and a yeasty, gently textural finish.

Medium ruby, the 2019 Pinot Noir Vintner’s Reserve has lush aromas of cranberry sauce, blood orange, licorice and forest floor. The medium-bodied palate features concentrated, ripe, spicy fruits along with a soft, fresh frame and long, layered finish. This offers a fantastic quality-to-price ratio!

The 2019 Chardonnay Vintner's Reserve is scented of yellow apples, baker’s yeast and hazelnut with tones of beeswax. The medium-bodied palate features concentrated, honeyed fruits, juicy acidity and a long, nutty finish.

The 2019 Chardonnay Grand Reserve is scented of baked apples, pie crust, toast and beeswax with top notes of citrus. The palate is medium-bodied, fresh, rounded and savory, with appealingly ripe, honeyed fruit and a long, flavorful finish.

The 2019 Le Désir is an exceptional blend of 83% Cabernet Franc, 8% Merlot, 5% Malbec and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon, offering complex, layered flavors, soaring aromatics and very detailed expression. Deep ruby-purple in color, its aromas unfold slowly and offer new nuances with each return to the glass: Morello cherries, warm chocolate, dried thyme, desiccated roses and dried herbs. The full-bodied palate offers concentrated, floral fruits, pixelated tannins, bursts of fresh acidity and a very long finish with layer after layer of detailed flavor.

The great Aussie blend, this is 52% Cabernet and 48% Shiraz. It is sourced from four discrete blocks, all planted more than half a century ago, in 1971. All are low yielding. The varieties were kept separate for fermentation. All grapes were destemmed. The Cabernet spent 15 months in fine-grained Bordeaux barrels, 60% of them new. The Shiraz went to one and two year old barrels, spending 6 months on lees. Overall, the wine saw 50% new oak. At this stage, barrel selection took place with the best blended together for this wine. Although the wine certainly climbs the heights, it is not named after any local mountains, not that there are any, but rather, after Mr Edward John Peake, who planted the first vineyard in Clarendon around 1850. Black/purple. This is deep, dark, brooding and coiled. Serious underlying power with balance, force and focus. Notes of aniseed, blackberries, dark chocolate, axle grease (in a good way) and coffee beans. Great length here with soft powdery tannins. The two grapes meld together perfectly, neither dominating, but both enhancing the other. Plush and soft and cuddly, this is a cracking red. 15 years plus if needed, but good luck keeping your hands off it for that long. Love it.

Named after the road where the vineyard is located in McLaren Vale, the various blocks which provide the grapes for this wine were planted between 1971 and 2002. Unirrigated, the grapes are hand-harvested and the yields are seriously low. 30% destemmed, 20% whole bunch and the remainder crushed to open top fermenters, the wine spent around 20 days on skins, before being drained directly to barrels – 1/3rd new French oak puncheons with the lees, the rest one or two years of age, for ten months. After blending, the wine was returned to older foudre and a concrete egg for a further 8 months. The result is a wine which is opaque purple. We have deep perfumes here; plums, chocolate, mocha and mulberries. There is nicely integrated oak and we see the arrival of blueberry notes. This is utterly delicious. Seamless on the palate, nicely balanced, through to plush tannins. There is great length to be found in this wine. Youthful but already a joy to drink, ten years if needed. Love it.

The blocks for this wine were planted between 1971 and 2002, each of them yielding little. The wine has 3% Malbec in a blend. Destemmed, sorted, cold soaked, pumped over on a daily basis and 21 days on skins. Basket pressed to new and used French barriques. Dark purple in hue, there is serious structure here. Firm and focused, dense and yet balanced. There are aromas of mocha, coffee grinds, blackcurrants, florals, dried fruits and chocolate. Excellent length, the intensity is maintained throughout and the finish is tied up neatly by those firm tannins. This is youthful, but has a good ten years plus ahead of it. Excellent warmer climate Cabernet.

La Crema always brings the rosé vibe to life. Soft, serious and structured, this California pink can bring grilled barbecue shrimp into new dimensions.

Bright, glowing youthful purple-red colour, medium depth; the bouquet is concentrated and rich, plummy and dark-cherried, bold and bright and punchy. The wine is at the fuller bodied end of the Aussie pinot spectrum. Great depth of concentrated black-cherry flavour, terrific length and assertive but nicely balanced tannins. Almost luscious. A very impressive pinot.

Medium colour, purple-tinted, spicy and vegetal aromas greet the nose, floral and raspberry too, with some vanilla and chocolate notes, the palate light-medium bodied with good intensity and a backbone of fine and taut tannins adding tension to the finish. Dried flowers and dried herbs. Great intensity, focus, depth and complexity and it has the potential to build more with time in the bottle. A pinot of real beauty.

Mid-light purple-red colour, bright and youthful, with aromas of mixed spices, raspberry, smoky oak and charcuterie, gentle palate texture and pleasingly drying tannins at the end. Excellent intensity. A nice touch of fruit sweetness at the heart of it, then a drying flush of fine tannin moves in. Delicious pinot.